See, this is why science should be trusted so rarely and faith will ultimately win in the end. I mean, let's look at science versus, say, Christianity. Jesus was born 2000 years ago, and since then Christianity has gone on truckin'. Meanwhile, science has been wrong (2000/45=44.444) almost 45 times. And each time it's wrong by half, so that's essentially a doubling of its wrongness every 90 years. That means that science has been rendered 100 percent wrong (2000/90=22.22) 22 times since Jesus, which is the equivalent of a 2200 percent error rate. It's astonishing people still get sucked in.

Another reason that personal knowledge decays is that people cling to selected "facts" as a way to justify their beliefs about how the world works. Arbesman notes, "We persist in only adding facts to our personal store of knowledge that jibe with what we already know, rather than assimilate new facts irrespective of how they fit into our worldview." All too true; confirmation bias is everywhere.

Herrrrr...deeeeeeeeerrrrrrr.... the problem isn't the facts or amount of information out there, its that we are not a society that values critical thinking skills so people become sticks in the mud. Information is worthless if you do not have the schema to processes it effectively

I know a few people who did work for the government in various surreptitious undertakings.According to them, they told as part of their training to "believe only half of what you read, and none of what you hear".

News at 11: People who don't keep up with current events, and believe what they were taught in elementary school or comic books 40 years ago may not be up to date with the latest in scientific knowledge.

// btw, the author seems to assume that if there's an initial study that shows one thing, and a follow-on that shows something else, the follow on is always the correct one?

See, this is why science should be trusted so rarely and faith will ultimately win in the end. I mean, let's look at science versus, say, Christianity. Jesus was born 2000 years ago, and since then Christianity has gone on truckin'. Meanwhile, science has been wrong (2000/45=44.444) almost 45 times. And each time it's wrong by half, so that's essentially a doubling of its wrongness every 90 years. That means that science has been rendered 100 percent wrong (2000/90=22.22) 22 times since Jesus, which is the equivalent of a 2200 percent error rate. It's astonishing people still get sucked in.

But still worth thinking about. Some facts are best current knowledge, and are subject to change as better evidence is found. But it doesn't mean old ideas are valid just because they were held true for years.

See, this is why science should be trusted so rarely and faith will ultimately win in the end. I mean, let's look at science versus, say, Christianity. Jesus was born 2000 years ago, and since then Christianity has gone on truckin'. Meanwhile, science has been wrong (2000/45=44.444) almost 45 times. And each time it's wrong by half, so that's essentially a doubling of its wrongness every 90 years. That means that science has been rendered 100 percent wrong (2000/90=22.22) 22 times since Jesus, which is the equivalent of a 2200 percent error rate. It's astonishing people still get sucked in.

All scientists know that the virgin birth was real, after all, scientists must explain their own existence somehow.

Rapmaster2000:How come "scientists" can put a man on the moon, but they can't keep my feet from smelling? It's pretty obvious if you think about it. They didn't put a man on the moon. I'm a skeptic. I read Reason.

Sybarite:Dinosaurs were cold-blooded - Yes, because even if you weren't a dino-nerd in grade school, nobody saw Jurassic Park.

I *WAS* a dino-nerd in grade school, but back then (the 1970's) the consensus was that dinosaurs were cold blooded. The evidence otherwise wasn't really laid out in popular form until 1986 with the publication of "The Dinosaur Heresies" by Bob Bakker, and even then, it didn't filter down immediately into grade schools.

Yes, but the other 50% of the facts I have are 100% accurate. Actually, most people get their science "facts" from a high school science teacher, who majored in home economics or art history. It's no wonder that they get bad information.

Rapmaster2000:How come "scientists" can put a man on the moon, but they can't keep my feet from smelling? It's pretty obvious if you think about it. They didn't put a man on the moon. I'm a skeptic. I read Reason.

Oh, they could. It just isn't as high a priority as growing an ear on the back of a mouse, or genetically-engineering cucumbers that make your pubic hair fall out.

Carn:Rapmaster2000: How come "scientists" can put a man on the moon, but they can't keep my feet from smelling? It's pretty obvious if you think about it. They didn't put a man on the moon. I'm a skeptic. I read Reason.

Gold Bond Medicated Foot Powder. You're welcome.

I'm saving my Gold Bond to counteract the imminent hyperinflation caused by Obama's Magic Money Printing Press. Gold Bond isn't just a piece of paper. Gold Bond has real, intrinsic value. When the shiat hits the fan, and you're burning dollars to keep warm, I'll be living the high life off of my stash of physical Gold Bond.

Rapmaster2000:How come "scientists" can put a man on the moon, but they can't keep my feet from smelling? It's pretty obvious if you think about it. They didn't put a man on the moon. I'm a skeptic. I read Reason.

If your feet smell but your nose runs, does that mean we've been upside down this whole time?

Rapmaster2000:Carn: Rapmaster2000: How come "scientists" can put a man on the moon, but they can't keep my feet from smelling? It's pretty obvious if you think about it. They didn't put a man on the moon. I'm a skeptic. I read Reason.

Gold Bond Medicated Foot Powder. You're welcome.

I'm saving my Gold Bond to counteract the imminent hyperinflation caused by Obama's Magic Money Printing Press. Gold Bond isn't just a piece of paper. Gold Bond has real, intrinsic value. When the shiat hits the fan, and you're burning dollars to keep warm, I'll be living the high life off of my stash of physical Gold Bond.

You can tell that by hanging around here. There is always one "fact" that is repeated over and over in multiple threads, that is then debunked by a few people, but keeps being repeated anyway for about 5 years.

As far as I can tell, nothing ever advances. It's SOS day after day, year after year. Actually knowing anything is kind of a waste of time, because nobody cares and nobody actually wants to know. So forget arguing on the internet, post cat pictures or something.

cryinoutloud:You can tell that by hanging around here. There is always one "fact" that is repeated over and over in multiple threads, that is then debunked by a few people, but keeps being repeated anyway for about 5 years.

As far as I can tell, nothing ever advances. It's SOS day after day, year after year. Actually knowing anything is kind of a waste of time, because nobody cares and nobody actually wants to know. So forget arguing on the internet, post cat pictures or something.